Uncertainty competence as a key skill for the 21st century
In my dissertation, I studied the relationship between uncertainty and effectuation, and I focused on the areas of corporate entrepreneurship and policy entrepreneurship. In this post, I share what I learned.
First things first: Uncertainty is a situation in which you do not know what you should do today to be successful tomorrow. Effectuation is a way of thinking and acting like expert entrepreneurs. Corporate entrepreneurship means applying entrepreneurial action to large companies, and policy entrepreneurship applies it to policymaking. Here are the main takeaways of my research:
Uncertainty does not equal uncertainty
Uncertainty is not only a term that we use rather vaguely in everyday language, but scholars who write about it are not so clear about it as well. Me and my co-authors show that four distinct perspectives “hide” under uncertainty as an umbrella term: novelty, possibility, unpredictability, and unknowability. How entrepreneurs look at uncertainty, and whether they appraise the situation as positive or negative, has an impact on how they act on it. If you experience possibility you are more likely to create something than if you worry about the unpredictability of the situation.
Effectuation helps employees innovate
Effectuation is a promising approach to boost corporate entrepreneurship in large organizations. Teaching it to employees in a voluntary and playful setting that sets clear boundaries for mini projects (e.g. regarding time and budget allocation) can be very effective. My co-author and I call this approach the “Market of Makers” — read more about it here.
Policy entrepreneurs co-create to change policies
Policy entrepreneurs move policymaking processes along by interacting with stakeholders and using surprises. My co-authors and I show how collective action starts from the interaction and co-creation of individuals. For example, policy entrepreneurs leverage moments of surprise and build partnerships with committed stakeholders to create transformation, which we call worldmaking. Read more about this here.
Uncertainty competence needs three abilities
The ability to effectively handle uncertainty and create impact in entrepreneurship, corporate settings, and policymaking is a crucial skill for the 21st century. Uncertainty competence is made up of:
1. the ability to notice and understand situations of unpredictability, unknowability, novelty, and possibility as facets of uncertainty,
2. the ability to act on them accordingly (e.g. possibility -> worldmaking),
3. and the ability to transform unpredictability to novelty, and then novelty to possibility to engage in worldmaking.
Did I spark your curiosity? Download and read my dissertation for free here!
